Officials break ground for library expansion

July 08, 2003|BY RYAN BENTLEY NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER

The process of developing a new Petoskey Public Library facility hasn't been marked by military struggles, but one library official found a comment British prime minister Winston Churchill made during World War II applicable to Monday's groundbreaking for the building.

As dozens of city officials, library staff and patrons gathered Monday for the ceremony at the proposed library site at Mitchell Street and Waukazoo Avenue, library commissioner Balky Grannis paraphrased: "It's not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning."

Work to renovate and expand a city-owned former Michigan Bell Telephone Co. facility into the community's new main library began in recent days with efforts to remove asbestos from the approximately 60-year-old facility.

A 6,000-square-foot addition planned for the building will bring total square footage to 24,000. Library commissioners expect the work will be complete in about a year.

Advertisement

Once key library facilities are operating in the new location, additional renovations planned at the current library building are projected to take another year. Plans call for that Carnegie-endowed structure to house historical collections and meeting space.

Grannis noted that the current library has served the community for nearly 100 years.

"Over time, as our collection grew, the need to expand became more and more obvious," he said.

Possibilities for expansion have been discussed for the past 15 years or so, Grannis added. Once funding for the facility was arranged through a one-mill tax levy approved by city voters in 2000, he noted steady progress toward construction.

"Once we got started on this thing, it's gone as well as we'd hoped," he said.

Library officials estimate the improvements to both buildings will cost a total of $4- to $5 million. Financing will be done through a bond sale planned for this summer, with bonds to be repaid with millage proceeds.

While the Bell building's Georgian-style exterior will be preserved through the renovation and expansion, plans call for the current interior to be gutted and thoroughly reconstructed as part of the project. New electrical, plumbing and climate-control equipment will be installed.

The new facility will allow space for the growth of library collections for all ages. A dedicated young adult section will be part of the mix for the first time. A larger computer lab area and a browsing area with comfortable seating for patrons also are proposed.

Plans also include an outdoor amphitheater near the rear of the facility which can serve as both a reading area and a venue for group library activities.

Petoskey resident Bonnie Carlson, one of the patrons attending Monday's ceremony, agreed with library officials' assessment that the facility needs space to grow.

"This is very exciting for me that this is finally happening," she said.